AT&T to Spend More Heavily on Lumia than iPhone Launch

AT&T appears to be gambling that it can achieve market advantage by offering the Nokia Lumia 900 for the period in which AT&T has an exclusive.


AT&T reportedly is going to spend as $150 million to help launch Nokia's Windows Phone Lumia 900, more than it spent to launch the iPhone. Is it a gamble? Some would say so. Microsoft's operating system does not register much more than three percent market share in the U.S. market,  though many expect the tie-up with Nokia might make a difference.


But the Lumia might have key market share and operating cost implications. It might require less spending on AT&T's part in the form of device subsidies. Also, Nokia and Microsoft have limited enough market share that the possibility of upside arguably is far greater than the downside. 


We will see. Consumers will be weighing a lower retail price for the device with the different user interface, as compared either with the Apple iPhone or Android devices. 


Device exclusivity, for a time, remains a key carrier objective. But it remains to be seen whether any future devices, other than the original iPhone, will ever have the length of time where exclusivity holds. Nor is it clear any devices since the iPhone have had similar perceived value.